


Easy as ABC

by AstronomerAlways



Category: Recess (Cartoon)
Genre: Babysitting, I will fight anyone on this, I'm bad at writing little kids so bear with me, M/M, THIS IS SO WHOLESOME, TJ would make the best house husband and nanny, The fact that no one has written him becoming a teacher is distressing to me, Wholesome, oh boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25412461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstronomerAlways/pseuds/AstronomerAlways
Summary: Oneshot. TJ's friends are in desperate need of a babysitter last minute. Being a good friend, he offered to be that babysitter. It's not like he hadn't done it before.
Relationships: TJ Detweiler/King Bob
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	Easy as ABC

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, for reference:  
> Gretchen's kids:  
> Marie - 4  
> Albert - 3 months  
> Vince's Kids  
> Satchel - 3  
> Floyd - 3  
> Wilma- 4  
> Mikey's Kid  
> Annie - 5  
> Gus's Kids  
> Augustus - 4  
> Clara - 3  
> Spinelli's Kids  
> Millie - 5  
> Max - 3
> 
> I hope you all can keep up as well as TJ.
> 
> This is kind of most definitely inspired by Icy_Blu's fic, which was inspired by one of my own fics. We have come full circle.

With all the money Robert spent on the bedding, TJ certainly felt it every morning when he woke up and he struggled to convince himself to get out of bed. The same was true today, as he woke up at the usual time without an alarm. Robert’s arm was tightly wrapped around him, and as he yawned he felt the slight ache of the bites along his neck, thanks to his husband.

The sun wasn’t even up yet but he needed to be. Today was going to be busy, and the sooner he could get ready, the better. TJ moved to get out of bed, but Robert, still somewhat asleep, tightened his grip.

“C’mon, Bobby. I need to get up,” TJ said. “Unless you want to be scrambling for everything.”

Robert grumbled, but released his grip before turning and getting just a bit more sleep. After a quick shower and getting dressed, he found himself sitting in Roberts desk chair in the office. That man might be a business genius or whatever, but he was completely inept at keeping documents in order. It was a good thing that TJ kept up with the business side of things as co-owner. It made sorting through the papers a lot easier.

He closed and locked Robert’s suitcase with a click and carried it downstairs where he sat it on the table.

Halfway through breakfast, he heard Robert moving around upstairs. The sun was finally making its grand appearance as he grabbed two coffee mugs. TJ wasn’t usually one for coffee, but today he was going to need it.

“Whoa, what are you feeding, an army?” Robert asked as he came in, clean and sharply dressed in one of his newest suits.

“Yeah, actually.” TJ brought a small stack of pancakes to the table, leaving a larger stack on the kitchen island, along with most of the food. “Might as well do it now so I just have to warm it up later.”

“Smart move,” Robert said. He grabbed a slice of bacon as he sat down. “I dunno how you do it.”

“Me neither. But I do, so it’s all fine,” TJ joined him at the table. “What’s work looking like for you today?”

“Ah. . .I think two meetings with business partners, and one with the marketing team. They think that we should do some good publicity by starting a donation to a nonprofit or something. I forgot which,” Robert explained. “It better be good. People think the company is ruthless and we need to fix it.”

“I can think of several ways,” TJ said. “If my schedule wasn’t booked today I’d come to that meeting.”

“I know you would. I’ll fill you in on everything when I get home.”

“Try not to stay late again, okay?” TJ asked. “You’ve been working yourself ragged.”

“I won’t.” Robert ran his fingers through his husbands hair and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I promise. I might even be home early if I’m tired after these meetings. I’ll let you know.”

“Good.”

The sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the mansion. TJ hurriedly ate the last two bites of his food and downed the last few sips of his coffee before jumping up.

“The first arrival is here,” TJ joked. He opted for keeping the kitchen apron on for the pockets.

“Mm, that’s my que to leave. I gotta beat the traffic,” Robert said.

TJ walked ahead of him to the front hallway. From between the double staircase and under the chandelier, he made his way to the front door. Opening it, he was greeted with Gretchen, who carried her youngest, 3 month old Albert, while her oldest, 4 year old Marie stood slightly behind her. Still tall, she wore her auburn hair in a bun, with fashionable glasses, and a simple black slacks and button up.

“You’re a lifesaver, TJ,” said Gretchen. “I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“It’s no problem. What are friends for?” He took the diaper bag from her, then Albert. “I thought you were on maternity leave.”

“I am, but apparently they desperately need me down at the labs. So much that they’re begging me to come in,” Gretchen said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I better get a bonus for this.” She kneeled down to her daughter. “Okay, Marie. I want you to be a good girl while mommy’s gone, okay? I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. . .” Marie said. She clutched a rather large book with her tiny hands. The little girl was very much the spitting image of her mother, complete with freckles. Her hair was in a braid with a few strands in her face.

“I know you’ll be good.” Gretchen kissed her forehead and stood back up. “Thanks again, TJ.”

TJ waved Alberts little hand at her as she went back to her car. Just as she pulled out, Robert came up behind him and wrapped an arm around him.

“The parades starting to show up, huh?” Robert kissed his cheek again.

“Yep.”

“Have fun, babe.”

TJ watched him leave. He didn’t bother shutting the door, as another car pulled up in the driveway.

“Are you ready to have fun today, Marie?” TJ asked the small girl. She nodded. TJ didn’t think much of her silence. She was always quiet. “I know you bought your own book, but I got a few more in the library if you want to see.”

“Okay. . .”

“Hey, Teej.” This time it was Vince who showed up. With both hands, he held onto two of his kids, while the third ran ahead of them. Three year old twins Satchel and Floyd and four year old Wilma.

“Hey Vince. Kids keeping you in shape?”

“You know it. Thanks for watching the kids on such short notice. Their usual babysitter cancelled last minute and I need to get down to the restaurant,” said Vince. “Just let them out in your backyard, they’ll wear themselves out eventually.”

The twin boys were identical, with their hair and shirt color being the primary way to tell them apart. Both boys had buzzcuts but Floyd had a zigzag razor line and Satchel had two parallel lines. Floyd wore red while Satchel preferred blue. They looked like a perfect mix of Vince and Ashley B. Their older sister Wilma, wore yellow, much like her mother, with her hair in a puffy ponytail. She strongly resembled her mother.

“Have they eaten, yet?”

“Yeah, but they’re always hungry, you know? Luckily they aren’t picky eaters so whatever is fine,” Vince said. “I owe you and Robert a free dinner at my place for this.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Jeez, TJ. Are you babysitting or running a full-blown daycare?” The two men turned around to see Spinelli coming down with her own two, five year old daughter Millie and three year old son Max, as well as Mikey’s five year old daughter Annie.

“At this point, I’m not sure,” TJ joked. “Mikey drop Annie off with you?”

“Yeah. We live close enough and it made more sense this way,” she said.

Millie, so far, was appearing to be the complete opposite of her mother personality wise. Like always, she wore a flower print dress and was very much girly, with her hair in pigtails and bows.

Three year old Max, with his mess of black hair, looked ready to bounce off the walls. The hard to remove grass stains on his overalls were a testament to how much of his mothers personality he had.

Mikey and Kursts daughter, Annie, had her mothers dense curls, her fathers eyes and hair color, and their same chubbiness.

“You’ve got your hands full today, huh?”

“Ha-ha, yeah. It’s fine, I’ve watched them all before. Except Albert, here.” TJ rubbed the infants back as her dozed off with a pacifier in his mouth. “Looks like the last two are finally here.”

He gestured behind them where Gus approached with his two kids. Four-year-old Augustus and three year old Clara. Augustus had his mothers, Theresa, dark brown hair, but seemed to be inheriting Gus’ initial short stature. Clara had blonde hair just like her father, and already had a pair of glasses in front of her eyes.

“Hope we aren’t late for the party,” Gus said. His two kids rushed in, joining the others playing in the entry way. There was plenty of room so it wasn’t crowded at all.

“You’re just in time, actually. I’m glad you all came so close together. That way I don’t have to walk back and forth to open the door,” said TJ.

“It’s the least we can do, considering you’re watching ten kids,” said Vince.

“Are you sure you got a handle on this?” Asked Gus. TJ nodded.

“I’ve got this. We always have fun here,” he said. “But you guys should get going before you’re all late.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Spinelli checked her watch. “I gotta go. You kids behave and don’t break anything!”

The others gave their kids similar warnings to be good before filing out and to their cars. As soon as the front door closed, TJ turned to the kids. None of them had walked off, good.

“Alright!” He said, using the echo of the entryway to get their attention. “Who’s hungry?” A chorus of ‘me me me’s!’ erupted from the crowd. Making a huge breakfast was definitely the right call. “Okay, everyone get in the caterpillar line.”

He watched them each line up, from tallest to shortest. Floyd and Satchel went back and forth before deciding to stand side by side. Once they were lined up, TJ lead the way through the house, to the breakfast nook in the kitchen that could hold the small army.

“Marie, do you want me to hold your book?” TJ asked. The small girl was determined to hold the book under one arm while she held a fork in another. “I’ll take good care of it while you eat.”

She nodded, and handed it over.

After eating they were going to have energy to burn. TJ checked his phone. Last night it said it was going to rain today, but that won’t be until noon. Plenty of time to wear them out in the backyard. Albert was still sleeping in his arms. It would be better to put him down in one of the cribs in the west wing.

Having watched his friends kids for so long, it only made sense to have a room with cribs for them to sleep in while they were here. A good chunk of the rooms in the west wing was set aside for them. He pulled out the bottles from Alberts diaper bag and set them in the fridge.

“Uncle TJ.” Annie tugged at his pant leg. “I’m done!”

“Okay, do you want any more?” He asked. The redheaded girl shook her head.

“I’m full.”

“Alright. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

With a damp paper towel, TJ helped her get the sticky syrup off her face. It soon became a line as more of the kids finished.

“Max, I know you don’t like it when someone wipes your face. Do you think you can do it yourself?” He asked.

“Yeah, yeah!” TJ handed him the paper towel and watched him wipe his face aggressively. It still got the job done, and that what was important. Standing up, TJ looked at the plates at the table.

Something to take care of during nap time.

“Okay, in the caterpillar line, guys! We have to drop off Albert, and then I have a surprise for all of you!”

“A surprise?!” Wilma shouted.

“Wilma, inside voice, please.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Yes, I have a surprise, and I think you’ll all like it.”

This got the kids attention and the excitement spread throughout the crowd.

“I know you’re all excited, but we’ll get to it sooner the faster we can all get in line,” he reminded them. The kids rushed to get in line same as before.

TJ lead the way through the house again, down a few halls until they reached the west wing. He opened the first door on the left. Inside, three cribs and a changing table were against the walls. Carefully, TJ laid Albert in one, making sure not to stir him. He continued sleeping.

He grabbed a pair of baby monitors on a shelf and placed one near the crib, and the other in one apron pocket. Quickly, he stuffed his pockets with what he might need. Bandages, alcohol wipes, things like that.

“Uncle TJ Can we go now?” Floyd asked.

“We wanna see the surprise!” said Satchel.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he said. “Now that Alberts down, we can go outside.”

“It’s outside?” Augustus asked.

“Yep.” TJ started walking again. Behind him, the kids talked with barely contained excitement. Hopefully the rain didn’t come early.

It was nice to have the house full like this. He loved Robert so much, but it was just the two of them in this huge mansion, and it was mostly just him. Hearing the footsteps of others really helped with the feeling of loneliness that sometimes settled in.

TJ stopped in front of the back door. He opened it, and stepped aside for the group to see what he had for them.

As imaginative as kids were when it came to playing, it never hurt to have a playset. Or two. A chorus of ‘wow’s’ came from the group as they saw what was in front of them. They didn’t waste any time and ran off to climb and swing on it.

He placed Marie’s book on the patio table before sitting down. The yard was fenced off, but it wouldn’t take long for one of them to come up to him for something, and he had to be ready.

The kids knew to stay away from the flower beds, and he hadn’t put together the raised gardens yet, so that wasn’t a worry. They were safe.

A scream was heard.

TJ watched as Augustus tripped while chasing Max. Rather than rush to scoop him up, he waited. Augustus looked as if he was going to cry, but he wiped his nose with the back of his hand, picked himself back up, and continued on.

What a tough little guy. Gus must be proud.

He double checked that the baby monitor was turned all the way up before placing it on the table.

What was he going to do for lunch? He usually ordered or threw a few pizzas in the oven now that they were all old enough to eat it. Maybe grilled cheese? One of those, probably.

TJ scrolled through his phone, making sure to look up and check on the bunch. That didn’t last long, however, as Clara tapped his arm.

“Yes, Clara? Do you need something?”

“My knee,” she said with a small sob. TJ leaned down for a better look. She managed to scrape her right knee. A common childhood injury.

“Okay. I’m glad you came to me. Let’s get that cleaned up.”

He lifted her into the chair closest to him, and pulled out an alcohol wipe and bandage.

“Now this is going to sting, but it’s important we do this, so we can get that scrape clean,” TJ said. “Okay?”

“I don’t want it to sting!” She sobbed.

“I know, sweetheart. I don’t want it to sting either. It’ll only be for a few seconds, I promise.” he said. “Do you want to hold my hand while I do it?”

Clara nodded. After opening and unfolding the wipe, TJ opened his hand for her to hold. She held on with as much force as she could muster as he cleaned her knee. She winced, and TJ worked fast to keep it short.

“You did great, Clara! Now let’s get this band-aid on you. Do you want the pink, red, yellow, green, or blue one?” He held them up for her to look at.

“The pink one.” She pointed at it.

“Good choice. It matches the heart on your shirt.” Carefully, he secured the band aid on her knee. “There, all done.”

“Thank you.”

“You are very welcome. Are you going to keep playing?”

Clara nodded, hopped down from her seat, and ran back to the others. Balling up the trash, TJ almost jumped out of his seat as well when he saw that Marie had joined him, sitting in another seat.

“Wow, you’re really quiet. I didn’t even hear you, Marie. I guess you want your book now, huh?” She nodded, and TJ pushed it over to her. Marie opened it, and flipped through the pages. “That’s a big book. What’s it about?”

“Long division.”

“Long division? That’s pretty advanced stuff. I had trouble with long division when I was twice your age.”

“I gotta learn. I gotta teach Albert,” she said.

“That’s very nice of you. Do you want help?”

“No, I understand.”

“Okay, then. Don’t be afraid to ask if you need it.”

“Uncle TJ, can we play swords?” This time it was Satchel.

“Swords? Good thing I saved them, then. Stay right here.” TJ walked into the sunroom. He brought out an armful of cardboard swords that the kids had made and colored on during past times he watched them. “Here you go.”

“Yay, swords!” Satchel grabbed one and held it up valiantly. “Swords!”

“Swords!” The other kids came running over to grab one and started playing. Oh yeah, saving those were a great idea.

ZZ

Three hours later, the group had burned through a lot of energy. TJ herded them back inside as the clouds started rolling in. He might’ve had extra clothes for them, but if he could avoid them getting muddy, he was going to take it.

TJ scooped up Albert just as he started to cry on the way to the large playroom at the end of the hall. On the way, they decided they had the overwhelming urge to paint. He pulled out the nontoxic paint and plenty of paper for them to work with, though TJ was sure that the paint wasn’t going to stay on the paper.

That was fine; getting it out of the carpet was easy enough.

“I’m going to get Albert his bottle, can I trust you all to stay here?”

“Yes!” The group said. TJ had a feeling they wouldn’t, being kids and all. He placed the baby monitor on the shelf before walking out.

“I hear you, Albert. I’m working on it.” TJ leaned against the counter as the bottle warmed on the stove. He gently rocked the infant, careful to support his head. Albert still cried for his bottle. “At least you have strong lungs.”

After checking the temperature, he started to feed the infant, who eagerly ate away.

Shouting came from the baby monitor he had in his apron pocket, and TJ quickly made his way back to the playroom.

While he certainly expected them to get paint on their skin, he didn’t expect to see them to get it all over their faces, arms, legs, hair, and clothes covered in it. There was plenty of shouting and pointing at each other, and a few were on the floor in a tussle.

Well. That was what he deserved for leaving them alone for five minutes.

Rather than yell so close to Albert, he turned the light on and off a few times to get their attention. The shouting died down as they each noticed him.

“What happened?” He asked. The shouting and finger pointing started up again. Of course. Lights on and off again. “Everyone stand up. Floyd and Max, let each other go. Augustus, stop pulling Millie’s hair. The rest of you put whatever your holding down.”

Hearing the sternness in his voice, they did as he told, dropping paint brushes and stuffed animals they had grabbed, and untangled themselves from each other. Goodness, getting them all clean was going to be an endeavor.

TJ adjusted Albert as he finished his bottle to burp him.

“Alright, one at a time,” he said. “Raise your hands.”

Their hands shot up with waving hands. TJ pointed to the least messy of them, Wilma.

“Satchel showed us his picture, and, and, Max said it was stupid!” She said.

“Is that true? Did you call his picture stupid, Max?” TJ asked. The three year old glared at his paint covered shoes, but still nodded. “You know we don’t call anything ‘stupid’. That’s a very mean thing to do, you all know that. No one likes being called that. Now I want you to apologize to Satchel.”

“’m sorry,” Max mumbled.

“Louder, Max. He has to hear you.”

“I said I’m sorry, Satchel,” Max said.

“Alright, good. Now that still doesn’t explain how you all ended up with paint all over you.”

Annie raised her hand. “Floyd said don’t call his picture stupid and then they started fightin’, then Millie tried to pull Floyd off and then the table fell over, and we were mad ‘cause we couldn’t paint no more.”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” TJ said. “I shouldn’t have left you all alone. Now you all need a bath.”

“Aw…” They all whined. Good thing their parents brought him extra clothes in case of something like this.

After Albert was burped, TJ brought the rocker into the playroom to watch him as the helped the kids clean up the mess they made as best they could. The carpet needed to be cleaned, but that was something that could be taken care of later.

Together by age and gender, he got them into the tub with bubbly water and a mission. The paint came off without a fuss, and he was able to keep an eye on the others since the bathroom was right across from the playroom. He tossed their clothes in the corner to throw in the wash when they were all clean.

The ruckus, along with playing outside seemed to have calmed them down for the most part, and TJ was thankful for that. It was about time for them to settle down for a nap.

“It’s quiet,” TJ said as he helped Augustus into some spare overalls. “Too quiet. What are you kids planning?”

“I dunno!” Augustus said. “I just got clean!”

“I guess we should go find them, huh?”

TJ scooped up a gurgling Albert and started the search for the others, with Augustus trailing behind. Given how quiet it was, he was willing to bet they were hiding. Maybe playing hide and seek? In that case, he needed to look behind everything.

He heard a few quiet giggles when he reached the kitchen.

“I wonder where they could be hiding,” he said, exaggerating his words. “Do you know where they’re hiding, Augustus?”

“No!”

“Well if you don’t know, and I don’t know, then we’re never going to find them. I guess we should just give up. They’re way too smart for me.”

Another round of giggles coming from the cabinets under the kitchen island. Sounded like two of them. TJ took a few dramatic steps towards it before opening the cabinet doors. Floyd and Satchel sat inside comfortably. Good thing him and Robert didn’t have too many pots and pans.

“Are we playing hide and seek?” TJ asked as they crawled out.

“Yeah!” Said Floyd.

“Did we hide good?” Asked Satchel.

“You did. You two found a great hiding spot. Now, how about you help me find the others so we can watch a movie?”

“A movie?”

“Can we pick?!”

“Sure, we’ll all vote on it,” said TJ. “We’ll make a theatre in the living room, okay?”

“Okay!” The twins said together. They jogged off to help find the others.

“Do you want to help find the others, Augustus?” TJ asked. He shook his head. “Alright. How about you pick out a movie we can vote on? It won’t take long to find the others.”

“Oh, I know what I want.” Augustus bounced up and down. TJ brought him to the living room and to the collection of kids movies in the lowest cabinet. With him preoccupied, TJ went to help find the rest of the kids.

“You know, you’re the easiest here to watch,” TJ said to Albert. The three-month-old was content with chewing on part of his apron. “Now, I think I know where your sister might be.”

TJ walked straight to the small library in the west wing. Two bookshelves full of children’s books, a small couch, table, and toy chest. Marie was, nine times out of ten, was in here when he couldn’t find her around him.

“There you are,” TJ said as he opened the chest. Marie laid inside on a pile of stuffed animals. “Nice hiding spot.”

“Thank you,” Marie giggled.

“You’re welcome. We’re going to watch a movie now. Do you know how to get back to the living room?” Marie nodded. TJ helped her out of the chest. “Okay, Augustus is already there. The rest of us will be there soon.”

Marie ran off. Four out of ten.

The others were found pretty quick. Millie and Annie in the sunroom. Max in the hallway closet. Clara behind curtains. Wilma under a crib. With them all herded into the living room, TJ had some semblance of control.

A vote wasn’t needed. They all wanted to watch Monsters Inc. With plenty of popcorn between them, TJ popped the movie in.

“Sleepy again?” TJ whispered to Albert. TJ placed him in his rocker as the movie started.

A *ding* from his phone caught his attention. A text from Robert.

Robert: Hey babe you still alive in there

TJ rolled his eyes.

: Yeah I’m alive.

Robert: lol great. One meeting got cancelled. Hoping to be home at like 2

: great. Don’t mind the mess

Robert: how bad is it

: better than you expect. Worse than I hoped

Robert: oh god

It’ll be fine. It was ten kids, the place was going to be messy no matter what. TJ took his chance to sit down for a break. They were all good kids. Some more energetic than others. TJ made sure to close the curtains before the rain started coming down. He hoped that thunder wasn’t part of it. Wilma, Annie, and Augustus were scared of thunder, if he remembered correctly.

He took a quick picture of the kids and sent it to their parents.

ZZ

A set of clean dishes and a load of laundry later, and TJ sat in the living room. The kids were down for the count, sleeping as the movie continued to play. TJ opted to keep it on and watch it as he sorted through the clothes as best he could. Their parents could do the rest when they came to pick them up.

He’d give it about 45 minutes to an hour before they were up and looking for lunch. Pizza’s in the oven it is, then. No need to make some poor delivery driver come all the way out here in this down pour.

Albert started to fuss in his rocker, as if he was fighting with all his three month old might to get out of it. After picking him up, TJ found the reason why.

“Whoa, you dropped something _nasty_ in your diaper, buddy,” TJ winced. “Let’s get you out of that thing, yeah?”

TJ spared the other kids the smell of it by changing him in the crib room. Albert wiggled and squirmed as soon as he was cleaned up.

“I know, it’s a relief, isn’t it? You babies have it pretty easy, except that that part,” TJ laughed. “Hmm, looks like you got a little diaper rash. I wonder if your mom packed anything for it.”

She did. A bottle of half filled with butt balm was right next to the diapers. TJ slathered it on him, sprinkled on some baby powder, talc free of course, before wrapping him up in a nice clean diaper.

“There we go. Nice and fresh.”

TJ grabbed a baby sling and tucked Albert in, freeing his arms.

His friends comments about him running a daycare was starting to feel more true, especially if he was this prepared.

Ah, well.

ZZZ

After lunch, the kids broke off in smaller groups. Millie, Marie, and Annie were having themselves a little tea party in the breakfast nook, and by the sound of things, they were having a very in-depth conversation that, according to Millie ‘was fitted for high class ladies like us’.

Wilma and Clara were doing their best to sculpt something out of playdough, and the boys were building a tower with blocks.

“Mind if I join you two?” TJ asked, sitting with Wilma and Clara. He grabbed a small container of playdoh. “What are you making?”

“I’m making a dog,” Wilma said. “I want one.”

“Oh, wow, a dog? What kind do you want?”

“I dunno. All dogs are good dogs,” said Wilma. “I think. . .I think I want a dalmatian. They have spots and I like spots.”

“Do your parents know you want a dog?”

“Yeah. Me and Floyd and Satchel want a dog. Daddy says he’s gotta think about it,” she said.

“That makes sense. Dogs are a big responsibility, and you and your brothers are probably too small for it right now.”

“Not if we work together!”

“Haha, well, you’ve got me there.”

“Can you talk to daddy about it, Uncle TJ? He’ll listen to you ‘cause you’re a grown up like him.”

“I can try when he comes back.”

“Okay!”

“I’m making a butterfly,” Clara said. “’cause we gotta cat named Butterfly.”

“That’s a unique name for a cat. Did you pick the name?”

“Uh-huh! It’s a girl and she’s white and fluffy and really pretty,” said Clara. “She likes to be pet but not too much. She runs away when you pet her too much.”

“That sounds like a cat. They want what they want when they want it,” said TJ. “But since she lets you pet her, she must like you.”

“ITS NOT A TOWER! IT’S A CASTLE!”

“IT’S A TOWER!”

“NO ITS NOT!”

“Excuse me, ladies. I have to take care of this.” TJ left his attempt at making a star on the table and walked over to the screaming duo. This time it was Max and Floyd yelling while standing in the debris of a half fallen castle. Augustus and Satchel sat nearby, looking more upset that what they were building was now in shambles. “What’s going on, you two?”

“He says it’s a tower, but we’re not makin’ a tower, it’s a castle,” said Floyd.

“It is a tower!” Max shouted.

“Max, inside voice, please.”

“. . .sorry. It is a tower,” said Max.

“No it’s not!”

“YES IT IS!”

“NO IT’S NOT!”

“YES IT IS!”

“Alright, you two! That’s enough. I can’t help if you both are yelling like this.” TJ grabbed their hands and lead them to the nearby couch. “Now we’re going to try this again, with your inside voices, okay? You all were building something, and you can’t agree on what it is?” The boys nodded. TJ looked behind them at what was left of their creation. “You all are going to think I’m crazy, but you both are right. The whole thing is a castle—”

“See, I told you!”

“Floyd, please don’t interrupt.”

“Sorry.”

“The whole thing is a castle, but you see those two corners that are still standing?” They turned to where TJ pointed. Augustus and Satchel were doing their best to start building again.

“Uh-huh.” They said in unison.

“Those are towers. A lot of castles have towers, just like the one you all built,” he explained. “So you both are right.”

The two boys pouted a bit, both expecting the other to be proven wrong.

“Now can you play nice, now?”

Floyd and Max mumbled an ‘okay’ before joining Satchel and Augustus in rebuilding.

“Mmm bah! Ah nah bah!” All the noise must’ve woken Albert up. He squirmed a bit in his sling.

“Its about time for your bottle, isn’t it?” TJ carried him to the kitchen and started preparing another bottle. Albert suddenly felt like being vocal as he babbled.

“Ahh, ahh. Ah gah a-bah.”

“I know, I hate it when it’s the middle of the night and I wake up because I’m hungry of all things,” TJ said, making up the conversation. “It’s so annoying.”

“A-dah aa ba. Mm gah. . .bbtph.”

“And when you do eat something you don’t feel like going back to sleep? Horrible. Especially when you were having a good dream, too? It’s the worst.”

“Pffthh.”

Once the bottle was done, he leaned against the counter while feeding the infant. Albert ate happily, kicking his little feet in his little tiger onesies.

Suddenly, the lights flickered before shutting off completely. Wind beat against the kitchen windows as the storm picked up. The children scream from surprise and a few from fear.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! The power just went out,” TJ spoke over them. She turned the light switch on and off a few times just to check. Yep. Power was out.

“Are you gonna find the breaker box?” Marie asked as she, Millie, and Annie climbed out of their seats.

“I could, or we could use this to have some fun,” he offered. TJ wanted the power back on, but getting down to a basement meant either leaving the kids up here or taking them down with him, and neither was a good option. The basement was being renovated, and leaving them alone, even for a few minutes, lead to chaos as demonstrated earlier.

“How?” Satchel asked.

“Oh there’s plenty of ways, but I’m thinking that we could have a little indoor campfire. How does that sound?”

“Can we have marshmallows?”

“Can we make s’mores?”

“Well we can’t make s’mores, but we can eat the stuff s’mores are made of.” TJ placed Albert in his rockers. He reached inside the ottoman and pulled out a plastic campfire toy. With a click, the fire lit up with an orange light. “Everyone grab a pillow and pick a spot.”

While they each grabbed a pillow, TJ grabbed a bag of marshmallows, chocolate, and paper plates. He passed them out evenly between them when he joined them on the floor.

A few of them were determined to at least pretend they were making s’more by holding marshmallows over the fake fire.

“How about I read a story to you guys?” TJ pulled out a children’s book from the ottoman. There weren’t any protests from the crowd as they munched away. He took that as a yes and started reading.

ZZ

Robert was ready for a long hot bath when he stepped through his front door. While one meeting was cancelled and rescheduled, the other two dragged on much longer than he expected. Meetings were an important part of his job but goddamn did he hate it.

Robert was met with TJ’s friends standing at the end of the entrance way, looking at something. Granted they were all friends, but they were more TJ’s than his. One of them, Gretchen, saw him approach and signaled for him to stay quiet, so he did.

Reaching them, he looked to see what was so fascinating. In the living room, the couch cushions and pillows were moved and arranged to make a makeshift campsite, complete with a fake plastic fire toy in the middle. The kids sat quietly, enraptured by the story TJ was reading from the book.

“How he manages them all, I’ll never know,” Vince whispered. “My own run circles around me.”

“They all love spending time with _Uncle TJ,”_ Spinelli snickered.

It was a cute sight, Robert thought. He pulled out a phone and snapped a few pictures as his husband turned the page. By the looks of it, he was almost done.

“Robert, have the two of you talked about kids?” Gretchen asked.

Robert shrugged. “A little bit. Nothing concrete, though.”

“I’m pretty sure he wants one,” said Spinelli. “Or several.”

Robert nodded. There wasn’t much he could say to argue against that. Anyone who watched and saw how TJ lit up when looking after this army that barely came up to his knees would assume that he had his own, or at least wanted some. Money wasn’t a problem at all. They had more than enough resources if a child or children was something they decided to add to their lives. It would add some life to this large house, too. Robert loved the mansion, but even he could admit that it was quite large for just the two of them. Why not fill up a few of the rooms, then? It’s not like Robert was against having kids, but to him it was a ‘if they happen, they happen, and if they don’t, they don’t’ sort of deal. But considering they were both men, it had to be conscious choice for them to make.

That was certainly a conversation they need to have, isn’t it?

TJ closed the book he was reading from once he finished. The kids came running up to their respective parents with TJ trailing behind them.

“They didn’t drive you crazy, did they, Teej?” Gus asked.

“Nah, not at all. They were great,” TJ said. “I wish I could’ve let them play outside longer, though.”

“These aren’t the clothes I brought you here in,” Vince commented.

“There was an incident with paint. They all needed a bath afterwards, and I threw their clothes in the laundry,” he said. “Their clothes are in the basket in the kitchen. Good thing they had extra here.

“Yeah, good thing,” said Spinelli. “Thanks again for watching them, Teej. We owe you one.”

“It’s no problem. I love watching them,” he said.

One by one, they each said their goodbyes before filing out of the house. Once the door was shut, Robert watched him lean against the front door and let out a deep sigh.

“You look like a mess,” said Robert. TJ stuck his tongue out of at him. In watching the kids, he didn’t have much time to clean himself up. Now he had paint on his arms, apron, and clothes, a thin layer of dried playdoh on his fingers, and a spot on his shoulder where Albert decided he was a little too full.

“It’s all for something good,” said TJ. “Glad to see you came home at a normal time.”

“I was ready to leave as soon as those meetings were done,” Robert said. He grabbed TJ’s hands and pulled him. “It’s so boring that I prefer the paper work.”

“Gross.”

“You were always better with that sort of thing.” Robert lead him up the staircase into their room.

“Just ‘cause I’m better at it doesn’t mean I like doing it,” said TJ. “I should clean up the mess downstairs.”

“Leave it. It’ll be there tomorrow. I wanna ask you something.” Robert loosed his tie and tossed it into the laundry basket. The sooner he got out and into something more comfortable, the better.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want kids?”

“Oh.”

TJ removed the apron around him before going to the attached bathroom to scrub the paint off his arms.

“Oh?”

“What brought this up?” TJ asked.

“One of your friends asked me if we talked about it when we were watching you. And you always look so happy when you’re watching their kids, and they warm up to you really fast,” Robert said. “Even when we have family events for work, the kids some people bring with them just gravitate towards you. I used to worry about you getting flirted with, now I’m worried that you’re going to get swept away by a bunch of ankle bitters.”

“What can I say? They aren’t threatened by me,” said TJ. He joined Robert sitting on the edge of their king sized bed. “But. . . .I think I do want one of our own. Or two. Or three. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, I just didn’t know how to bring it up. It’s just so quiet around here. . .”

“I know. So that it, then?” Robert wrapped an arm around him. “We want kids?”

“Yeah. We want kids.”

**Author's Note:**

> I mentioned a few of the kids other parent, but not all. Mostly because I wanted to leave it up in the air, even though I know who it is, lol. Ask me if you want to know, I'll tell you.


End file.
